Lords risk constitutional crisis by blocking reform of tax credits, says Clarke

THE House of Lords will provoke a constitutional crisis if it tries to block the Government’s tax credits reforms, Kenneth Clarke warned yesterday as several Tory MPs voiced concerns that the cuts will be “too hard and too fast”.

The former chancellor said that peers would be “overstepping” their role if they defeated the Government in a vote on the issue, which is expected on Monday.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have said that they will support a rarely used “fatal motion” in an attempt to block the cuts. Mr Clarke warned that such a move would help encourage arguments that the House of Lords should be abolished or reformed.

Last night a Labour motion in the Commons calling for a reversal of the policy was defeated by 317 votes to 295.

A series of Conservative MPs used the debate to urge George Osborne, the Chancellor, to limit the impact of the cuts on the “working poor”.

Heidi Allen, the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, told the Commons in her maiden speech that the cuts were “too hard and too fast” and sent a message to the poor and the vulnerable that “we do not care”.

She said: “As these proposals stand, too many people will be adversely affected. Something must give – for those of us proud enough to call our- selves compassionate Conservatives, it must not be the backs of the working families we purport to serve.

“It is right that people are encouraged to strive for self reliance and to find work that pays for their independence from the state.

“But I worry that our single-minded determination to run a budget surplus is betraying who we are. I know true Conservatives have compassion running through their veins.”

Johnny Mercer, a Tory MP who had dinner with Mr Osborne on Monday night, urged him to do “something, anything” to ease the “harshest” effects of the cuts on vulnerable people.

Despite the interventions, every Tory voted with the Government.

David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn voted before attending the State banquet for President Xi Jinping of China.

A second Commons debate on the issue will take place at the end of the month, sponsored by four Tory MPs – Zac Goldsmith, the candidate for Mayor of London, David Davis, Jason McCartney and Stephen McPartland.

Opponents of the tax credit plans argue that the Lords could throw them out next week because the changes were not directly referred to in the Tory manifesto. Fatal motions are rarely used as peers are reluctant to undermine the supremacy of the Commons.

Labour believes that the move is likely to be successful because the Conservatives do not have a Lords majority, and a combination of its own peers, the Lib Dems and cross-benchers will be enough to defeat the cuts.

Mr Clarke told The Daily Telegraph: “There is no point in turning this into a constitutional crisis, but it is an abuse of the House of Lords’ position to inflict £4 billion of debt or cuts elsewhere on the Government. It would be overstepping their role. They will get people demanding they are abolished if they try to imitate the American Congress.”

A Government source last night said that it would be “unprecedented” for the Lords to block the legislation.

The source said: “For the second time this measure has been approved by MPs by a significant majority.

“It would be unprecedented for the Lords to reject Treasury business involving billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money in such circumstances.”

Nearly one in seven of people who has completed the Government’s welfare-to-work scheme fails to find sustained employment, MPs have warned. The work and pensions committee said the scheme was “not working well” for people with complex problems who need more intensive help.

‘It would be overstepping their role. They will get people demanding they are abolished’